Fanning The Flames
by Anita
Summary: Strange things are happening around Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Cuddy isn’t sure she wants to know why.


**Fanning The Flames**

Dr. Lisa Cuddy walked briskly out of her office, files in hand, toward the clinic. Suddenly, a young boy crashed into her.

"What's wrong?" Cuddy asked him.

"I can't find my parents." The boy sobbed.

Cuddy smiled at him reassuringly, setting her papers down at the nurses' station.

She took his hand. "Well, what do you say we go find them?"

The boy nodded shyly, calming down a bit, as they walked off.

"Rahul!" A woman shouted, running over as soon as she saw them. "Where did you run off to?"

"I'm sorry, mommy."

"He's a good boy. He'll stay out of trouble. Right?" Cuddy asked and the boy nodded again.

"Thank you." The mother smiled at Cuddy.

Cuddy smiled back and returned to the nurses' station. She picked up her files once more and studied them for a moment. Something was missing… She flipped through the pages and realized her speech to the board of executives was nowhere to be found. Where could it have gone?

She hoped that she had merely forgot to bring it, that it was still sitting in her office.

Hurriedly, she headed back to her desk.

* * *

Half an hour later, her office now completely torn apart, Cuddy was still empty-handed. She needed to make this speech tomorrow, and she would be damned if she had to write it all over again. She already had enough on her plate as it was.

She glanced back at the nurses' station where she had initially set the papers down. Maybe one of the nurses had taken it by accident? It was her last chance. If they didn't know where it was, then she'd have to resign herself to a late night.

"Nurse Brenda." Cuddy called out as the woman looked up expectantly. "About half an hour ago I set down my papers here on this desk. Did you happen to see any of those papers around here?"

Brenda gave her a slightly confused look. It wasn't like Cuddy to be disorganized or to ever misplace anything. "Sorry, Dr. Cuddy. I haven't seen anything. And I've been here all through the past hour and a half."

Cuddy sighed inwardly and smiled dismissively. "That's alright. I'm sure it will turn up."

She retreated back to her office, wondering what places she could have possibly not searched yet. As she stepped closer to her desk, she noticed a small pile of papers placed neatly on top of the rest of the paper stacks. It was her speech.

Had it really been lying there in plain sight the whole time? Cuddy highly doubted it. She shrugged. She couldn't be bothered to figure this out now, she still had rounds to do.

Without another thought, she grabbed the papers, stashed them in her purse and was off.

* * *

It was the beginning of another week and Dr. Cuddy felt renewed with energy and drive. She had a bit of time to spare, so she decided to walk by the classrooms. Watching the medical students always brought a smile to her face, reminded her of her own hard-hitting days.

She was disappointed to find that the lecture halls were all empty. She greatly enjoyed sitting in on some of the lessons when she had the time. Cuddy had hired the best teachers and doctors; it was worth it to hear them speak.

As she continued walking, she noticed one of the professor's teaching binders still on his desk. It was Dr. Kecknie's room; he had most likely forgotten it in a rush. He was prone to running around far too much for his own good. Cuddy knew exactly where she could catch him and decided to bring the binder back to him.

She opened the door of the hall and entered. She took the binder in her hands and turned around to leave. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a few bodies scurry through the back entrance in a hurry.

"Faster, or she'll see us!" Cuddy heard one of them shout in fear, and they were gone in a flash.

Cuddy stood perplexed for a few moments. What had just happened? What had she just heard? What had she just seen?

Life was beginning to make less and less sense. She shook her head and reminded herself that she had to get the binder back to Dr. Kecknie. All other thoughts would have to wait.

* * *

The day was winding down and most of the staff had already gone home. Cuddy locked up her office door and headed out to the parking garage. All she wanted to do was head home, grab a light dinner and relax while watching something completely mindless. She had earned it.

She was shocked to find a group of people still in the building, sitting in a circle. What in the world were they doing? Cuddy had never seen them around here before, definitely not at this time of day.

As she took a closer look, she recognized some of them as first year medical students. They were having a meeting now? They were deep into a heated discussion and for a moment, she decided not to disturb them. But her curiosity got the best of her.

"Hi guys." She walked up with a smile. They knew she was the Dean of Medicine and she didn't want to scare them off. Intimidation wasn't what they needed right now. "What are you still doing here? It's late, even for med students."

Each of them looked up at her in complete shock. None of them uttered a word, so she cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at them questioningly.

"W-we were just leaving. That's all." One of them, a young Asian girl who Cuddy was sure she had seen at least once before, stuttered out. The others nodded quickly in agreement, and before Cuddy could get another word in, they grabbed their things and left.

Cuddy closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Things were getting far too strange. She was definitely working much too hard.

* * *

Another day, another round about the hospital. Cuddy usually never found anything unusual and it seemed that this day would be the same as the rest. It was still great to catch up with her fellow doctors and check in on some of the patients.

Cuddy made her way up to the second floor but stopped short of going any further. As she walked by one of the closed storage rooms, she could swear she heard voices! She leaned closer to the door, pressing her ear up to it so that she could hear better.

"Ok, last night was a close call. So we have to make sure we have these meetings in less visible spots around the hospital."

Cuddy recognized the voice. It was the same she had heard shouting as the group had ran out of Dr. Kecknie's lecture hall.

Someone else piped up. "But wasn't it amazing? The way she smiled so warmly at us. Her authoritative tone."

"Her facial expressions are even more amazing close-up." Another voice agreed.

"And can you believe how late she stays here at the hospital? I couldn't! She's so hard-working."

"I wish I could be like that one day…"

Cuddy backed away from the door in surprise. They were talking about her? That's why those medical students were meeting last night? They had meetings about her?

It seemed ridiculous, but Cuddy couldn't keep herself from grinning stupidly. She leaned back in to hear more.

"Hey guys, I was going to tell you yesterday, but we ran out of time. I got a hold of Dr. Cuddy's speech she gave to the board of executives. I even made copies, so we can all have one."

So that's where her speech had gone.

"That is so cool. I bet her speeches are brilliant and articulate, just like she is."

"I still can't believe how lucky I am to be studying here. At **her** hospital!"

Cuddy stifled a laugh. They were definitely enthusiastic. She looked around, ensuring that no one was watching her odd behaviour. It wasn't often she stood next to a storage room with her ear pressed up to the door.

As she began to walk away, she smiled to herself. She had a few more things she knew her little "fan club" would love to get a hold of. And she was feeling a little forgetful this morning, maybe she would just happen to leave a few of them lying around.

* * *

This fic was written for the Cuddy Fest challenge on Livejournal. Hope you liked it. All Cuddy, all the time! ;) Please read and review! Thanks!


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